


These Are the Lies

by Cloudyerd11



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), These Are the Lies - The Cab (Song), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Attempted Murder, Blood and Injury, Dreams and Nightmares, Dreams vs. Reality, Fighting, Friends to Enemies, Friends vs Friends, Gen, Hunters & Hunting, Just best friends, Magic, Manhunt - Freeform, Mild Language, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Partial Mind Control, Please Note That, Potions, The End (Minecraft), The Nether (Minecraft), Video Game Mechanics, dreamnotfound, not in a relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:08:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27902740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudyerd11/pseuds/Cloudyerd11
Summary: “Dream?” George asked, taking off his helmet for his face to be clearer.He couldn’t believe the figure in the green sweatshirt was standing in front of him. Dream was alive; living and breathing right in front of him. He wasn’t dying in a hole somewhere far away from them; he wasn’t being tortured in some cave they would never find. All his nightmares had simply just been his imagination trying to terrorize him. His best friend was alright, alive in front of him…An arrow embedded itself in the tree a few inches from George’s goggled face.-----The Dream Team wakes up in a world they know nothing about; their very own Minecraft world that doesn’t obey either the laws of physics or video game logic at all. Not to mention the fact that their leading teammate is missing, and not to mention the fact that George is starting to have nightmares about Dream dying that keep getting worse every time he closes his eyes. So they have no other choice but to find their friend; and George, Sapnap, and Bad must do the one thing they do best…Beat the game to send them home.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 47





	1. The Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Everyone! Welcome to my first story on this fandom. Please note that this story is not associated with the Dream SMP war or anything related to that other than characters. This story was inspired by the youtube video "MANHUNT" by Pluto. Here's the link if you would like to check it out: https://youtu.be/vXnUPF1bhNU
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading. Please let me know what you all think!

“Move, you muffins,” Bad said impatiently. 

The trio stumbled through the door of the apartment, the handle slightly jammed like it normally was. Sapnap made a beeline to the small, round kitchen table with the large white and red paper bag. Bad was closely in tow, George hanging back to close and lock the door.

“I’ve waited for ages for this.” Sapnap immediately began rummaging through the bag, pulling out food boxes left and right.

“You literally had Chick-fil-A two days ago,” Bad responded, setting the drinks down next to the piles of food and sauces.

“So? That’s a long time for me.”

“Dream!” George shouted at the hallway opposite from them. “We’re back.”

“Pff. You don’t need to tell him that,” Bad scoffed.

“Yea, he can probably smell the food already,” Sap continued, already spreading Chick-Fil-A sauce on his Spicy Deluxe.

George rolled his eyes, picking up his own box of twelve chicken nuggets and snagging his frosted Lemonade away from the others. You would have thought they were feeding an army with how much food was in front of them; given, most of that was Sapnap’s but still. There was an unhealthy amount of Chicken filling their table.

The British friend caught a glimpse of his black-sweatshirt companion, who was staring down at the large drink in his hand with a strange expression. Slowly he took a drink from the red straw, closing his eyes.

“Oh muffins, this is good!” Bad exclaimed, eyes wide as he looked at the pink dessert some more.

“Told you the peppermint was worth it,” Sap answered through a mouth full of food while holding an already half-eaten sandwich.

George smiled and rolled his eyes some more. His eyes fell to the white bag containing just a regular chicken sandwich, remembering that there was one other person missing from their group.

“Dream? You gonna come join us?” He called, peering down the hallway once more. All the doors were closed and the hall lights were off, yet a familiar blue light spread faint across the floor on the far end.

“You better not already be cheating!” Sap called out.

“Yea, get all your Reddit scrolling done now before we destroy you in that manhunt later!” Shouted Bad before tearing off a bite of his chicken strip.

George couldn’t help himself from starting towards Dream’s room. He knew his friend was probably using his headphones and didn’t hear them come in or trying to finish a game. Two pairs of footsteps and loud chewing followed him, standing behind him as he opened the door.

All three of them frowned.

There was their friend’s computer, but not Dream. The blue lights that surrounded the top of his room were on as well as his monitor, the Minecraft home screen spreading its light across the dark wood desk. The chair was even pushed back like he had been sitting at it. Everything else - his bed, his dresser, his mirror - were all there, but Dream was nowhere in sight.

“What in the hell?” George spoke first.

“Come out, you muffin head,” Bad said, crossing his arms with his shake still in his hand. “Nice job trying to scare us, but you can’t fool us.”

No response.

“Okay, whatever. Have fun being a muffin.”

“Haha. Very funny Dream,” Sapnap called behind him as he walked back to the kitchen.

“You better come out or he’ll eat all your Chick-fil-A,” replied Bad, giving a short laugh.

George was the one who actually took a step into the room. He flicked on the switch, mixing the dark with blue and regular light.

Something felt… off. Not scary, not fearing, just off. He could sense that there was no one else in the room but him and a grumbling Bad behind him. Everything was saying Dream was here - the way the chair sat, where the mouse was placed - but nothing. No Dream.

“Guys, I don’t think he’s here.”

“Well, where else would he be?” Questioned Bad. “He was here when we left and said he would be here when we came back.”

Sap returned with a large box of fries, munching contently. “You think he left?”

“He didn’t leave a note.” Dream always left them a note if he had to leave before they got back from somewhere. Even when he was late to an appointment or something, he always took the time to leave a quick note.

George pushed past them, knocking on the bathroom door before opening it. Empty. He even stepped in and checked behind the shower curtain. Empty too.

“George, are you seriously going to check every room in the apartment?” Asked Bad, taking a sip from his shake.

“Why not? If he didn’t leave he’s probably around here somewhere right?”

He heard his two friends sigh behind him. Bad came over to help him rummage through the apartment while Sap continued to eat while searching in Dream’s room. They made it through both his room - with its blue walls and red LED lights - and Sap’s - white with black aesthetics - before moving onto Bad’s room.

The friend’s room was the exact definition of BadBoyHalo’s character but not Bad himself: covered with black walls and red LED lights. Everything was either black or red and the major components to the room like the bed frame and gaming chair had red devil horns coming from the top. George had just started peering under Bad’s bed before a shout filled the apartment, painfully crying out. 

“GUYS!” Sapnap screamed.

For a split second, both of the two friends thought he had found Dream and fallen into a hidden trap. But when Sap’s voice became muffled before instantly cutting off, the two were sprinting to the blue room.

The entire room was just like before, only a half box of fries lay scattered across the floor. Sapnap was gone, having vanished into thin air.

“WHAT THE MUFFIN?” Bad shouted. “WHERE DID HE GO?”

“I don’t know!”

“BUT HE WAS RIGHT HERE!”

“I CAN CLEARLY SEE THAT!”

George reached down to pick up the trampled fry box when his arms were pulled back by Bad.

“Are you insane? Have you not seen any horror movie ever? You don’t just go around picking random things up!”

“What are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, call the police?”

George motioned to the room. “What are we supposed to tell them?”

“The heck should I know! We could come up with something!”

A flashing spark grabbed the arguing friend’s attention. They hadn’t seen it before, but a small black disk rested on Dream’s desk, a white dome covering the top. The only thing that stood out was a small black wire - which from where he stood George could see it snaked its way back to the computer, but it looked like any normal electronic device.

The disk flashed again, filling the room with a wave of white light. George could feel the electricity surrounding them, the brown hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up. The device was malfunctioning, shooting light in every direction.

“THE HECK IS THAT?” Bad shouted over the energy filling the room.

George couldn’t answer, only able to keep staring at the device. His brain was running a million meters a second, trying to make some sense of the situation. He couldn’t react nor could he move, completely frozen to his spot. It was even impossible for him to respond to Bad tugging on his arm.

“George! GEORGE! We have to get out of here! Come on!”

As he took one step in the direction Bad was pulling him towards, a large blue tendril of light lunged at him. A similar black tendril raced towards Bad just as the blue tendril wrapped around his neck.

George collapsed to his knees, grabbing at the energy beam to pull it off of him. The opposite happened to Bad, the kneeling prisoner watching as his friend was lifted up into the air by the rope at his neck. Black veins were running up the screaming boy’s face, eyes turning white as his face went completely dark. George struggled to get to his friend, fighting the energy running up his own face.

“GEORGE!” Bad screamed, him and tendril completely dissolving before George’s very eyes.

No words escaped George’s mouth as his vision went completely blue, the tendril completely cutting off all words and oxygen. There was the overwhelming sense of being torn apart, the painful sensation of each cell in his body being cut away from each other. He was briefly relieved when the world around him started going dark, the energy pulling him into itself.

The whole ordeal that felt like agonizingly long minutes happened in a few seconds, leaving the apartment as empty as before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So for anyone who has already read this and is going back through, I recently started watching BadBoyHalo on twitch and felt like my story wasn't doing him justice language-wise so I fixed it XD Now he's the Bad we all know and love <3


	2. The Spawning

_ “Come on now. You don’t think I’d make it that easy did you?” _

_ George was awake. He could feel it in his bones. He just didn’t know where he was or where that voice was coming from. Was there a chance he was still in their apartment? Had he imagined the energy encircling his neck and slowly killing him? _

_ “Look at you. The great hero, nothing but a leftover husk for me to use.” _

_ He didn’t recognize the voice, so who was talking? Were they talking to him? Why couldn’t he see the speaker’s face? His eyes were clearly open, so why couldn’t he see anything but darkness and empty black? _

_ “I guess you’re not as spectacular as everyone makes you out to be.” _

_ And then he heard the scream. _

_ Never in his life had George heard his best friend scream, but he knew in an instant it was Dream. It wasn’t the usual “oh hell I almost just fell into lava kind of scream”, but a real blood-curdling scream. Dream was screaming in pain. Dream was dying. His best friend was dying. _

_ “Dream!” George shouted, trying to be heard over the crying of pain. “Dream I’m here! Dream! _

_ “Dreammm…” _

George’s eyes were blinded by the warmth and brightness of light, his eyes having been closed for too long. He held his hand up, casting a shadow onto his face to completely open his eyes. It was the sun, all its light shining through the canopy of trees above.

The earth was hard below his back but surprisingly soft, the grass comforting the skin on his arms. It took him a minute to realize he was laying on a forest floor, shadows diming the ground everywhere except the patch of sunlight he was laying in. As he slowly sat up, he began to see more and more of the beauty around him.

It was definitely not the forest behind their apartment; he and the guys explored that forest so much they knew it like the back of their hands. Besides, the trees here were perfect.  _ Too _ perfect. Exactly how a fairy tale would describe them.

_ Well, I can’t just stay here _ , George thought, beginning to look around. At first, he investigated the trees around him, walking all the way around them before coming back into the small clearing. He picked a random direction - right - and started moving in between the trees. He came across a few small clearings like the one he had woken up in, but most of the area was the ongoing pattern of perfect trees. He let out a shout when something made a noise in the forest next to him, only to see the face of a cow looking at him with a blank expression. George rolled his eyes, continuing on.

He didn’t exactly know why he felt an urge of excitement when he came across a small hill, but it made him smile. He quickly scaled the hill spotted with trees, stopping for a brief moment to look at the beautiful red and white flowers around him. The top allowed him to look just over the tops of the trees. When his eyes fell upon a large opening in the field of leaves, he mentally set his course.

George came across a few more animals; a few sheep, another cow, and one chicken that scared him as much as he scared it. He was starting to become used to the sounds of animals and nature around him, so he didn’t question the sound of something moving on the other side of a dense row of trees until they both stepped out into a clearing at the same time.

A figure stood next to him, standing out amongst the greenery around them. His arms were safely protected from the sun by a black long sleeve he wore under his white t-shirt, decorated by the decal of a flame on the front. His jet black hair was messy and sticking out in all different directions, only held out of his face by a white band circling his head.

The two strangers shouted in fright, running away from each other. George tripped and fell flat on his back while the other raced to hide behind a tree. George shook his head, shaking off the dirt and flakes of grass, taking a minute to collect himself.

“Sapnap?” He softly spoke.

A brief second of silence followed his call. “George?”

The boy took a step out from behind his tree, his face lighting up when he glanced at the boy getting up from his spot on the ground.

“Oh shit, you’re alive!”

George was embraced in the tightest hug he had ever received, as though Sap was scared he would fly away.

“You’re alive,” George answered when the arms released him. “You disappeared from the apartment before Bad and I could get to you…”

“Wait Bad? Bad’s here too?”

George looked around, the realization hitting him that they were missing a friend. “I haven’t run into him yet.”

Hand touched his shoulders, bringing him back to face his white shirt friend. “Did the white light get you too?”

“Yes, except mine was blue and Bad’s was black."

Sap shook his head. “That was the scariest thing I have ever been through in my life, and that’s including the time I pulled that shaving cream prank on Bad.”

“What exactly happened?”

“I was about to come join you guys when something wrapped around my neck. I started to panic because I couldn’t see who it was and it wrapped around my face after I called out to you. After that, it was just white light and pain.”

“Pretty much the same here.” George looked at the way he just came. “Did you wake up in a clearing back there?”

“Dude I woke up on a tree and it scared the shit out of me.”

“In a tree?”

“No no. ON the tree. I woke up ON TOP of a tree.”

“How though?”

“Don’t ask me. I just did. Almost as scary as getting down from it…”

“AHHHHHHHH!” A voice cried out, filling the whole forest.

George and Sapnap turned to see a demon running out of the forest. It was dawned in a black outfit with red highlights, a hood cascading a shadow onto its already dark face. The demon’s skin was completely black, the only bit of color on its face coming from its completely white eyes. Both its red devil horns and white fangs reflected small bits of sparks as it ran in and out of the sunlight on its way towards them.

Only it wasn’t chasing after them, it was being chased itself.

“Guys help!” Bad shouted, a wolf appearing behind him about three feet from his heels. “Do something!”

Without hesitation George stepped forward the moment Bad passed him, taking a swing at the wolf. It was a stupid move, definitely not one of his brightest, but it seemed like a normal reaction to him. His fist collided with the beast’s face, making contact on its cheek right below its red eye. The creature made a terrifying but painful noise before collapsing to the ground, George jumping out of its way. Its momentum carried it a few more feet before it eventually went still.

George turned to look back at his friends, and if it weren’t for the adrenaline pumping through his system, he would have laughed at the sight of the little demon cowering behind an equally terrified Sapnap.

“Bad are you alright?”

“NO! I almost died! The heck I’m not okay!”

“What happened?” George asked.

“I woke up next to a hill over there and saw the wolf, but I thought it was a dog. So I tried to pet it and it was going alright until it moved suddenly and I accidentally punched it and it came after me!” Bad took in a deep breath looking back over at the downed wolf. “How did you do that?”

“I don’t know. I just punched it and… that.”

“That’s really sus, George.”

“More so than this?” George asked, motioning to the forest around them.

Sap opened his mouth before closing it again. “You’ve got a point.”

Bad finally caught up with the world around him. “I can’t believe you guys are alive!”

“That makes three of us,” Sap said, surprising the demon by turning around and giving him a hug.

“What the muffin happened to you?”

“Story I’ll explain later.”

“Sap how long have you been here?” George asked.

“I woke up just after sunrise apparently.”

The questionnaire shot a quick glance up, seeing the sun directly above them. “You’ve been awake for half the day? You were gone from the apartment for like thirty seconds! How’s that possible?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, but I’m pretty sure that when I opened my eyes, the sun was over there, and now it’s here.” He pointed to their left before pointing straight up.

“That time frame doesn’t make any sense.”

“None of this makes any sense, blue man,” Bad snapped

“Blue… what?”

“Look at yourself.”

George finally looked down at himself, realizing he was the only one who didn’t know what he looked like. His eyes went wide at the sight of a blue t-shirt and darker blue cargo pants. A small red rectangle stood out in the sea of blue with a bit of white inside. As his hand reached up to grab a lock of his normal brown hair - letting it fall through his fingers - he briefly grazed the strap of a pair of gray goggles on his eyes.

Carefully wrapping his fingers around the sides of the lenses, George lifted them up eyes going wide as the colors seemed to dim around him. “Wait…” He put them back on, the brightening color returning. In shock he repeated the pattern a few more times, before once more placing them over his eyes, palms pushed against them to keep them extra secured to his face.

“THIS IS WHAT COLOR LOOKS LIKE?”

“Huh?”

“Ohhhh you’re color blind,” Bad responded, looking at George like he had his own devil horns sprouting out of his head.

“Everything is so pretty!” The stunned boy continued, putting the goggles back on his face. “It’s so bright here!”

“Listen, George,” Sap interrupted. “I know you’re going through some magical revelation here, but we kind of have some more important issues we have to take care of first.”

“Yea, like figuring out  _ where the muffin we are _ .”

“Well, to start. We’re in a forest.”

“Pff. That does nothing. There are millions of forests on earth. We could be anywhere.”

“Also, how exactly do we explain you turning from a human to a demon?”

“That’s a very good question…”

Still listening in on the conversation, George reached up and took the goggles off his face, most of his concentration going into keeping his mind from breaking out once more at the dimming of color. He held them in his hands, gazing at the large, clear, circular lenses.

This… isn’t real. It couldn’t be, and not just cause he can see color with these mysterious pairs of glasses. Nothing around them could be possible. How would you explain this? When do you begin to explain this perfect world around them, with its storybook trees and video like graphics? What did that small device with its sparking electricity have to do with where they are now? Where did the energy play into this? And what was with the whole going from being in your own home to suddenly being in the middle of the forest dressed in the exact replica of your… video game… skin… 

George could have sworn a stone block hit him in the face.

“Guys,” he said, interrupting the debate going on next to him. He turned his head, looking into his friend’s eyes. “I think we’re in a Minecraft world.”

“And you think that why?” Questioned Bad.

“Look around us!” He said, motioning to the forest and meadow. “We’re standing in the most perfect forest you have ever seen in your life. I just punched a freaking wolf and killed it on the spot.  _ We are dressed in our own Minecraft skins _ .”

Realization spread across their faces too.

“Oh shit,” Sap whispered.

“We have no way to get back,” Bad continued, bringing his hands to the top of his head. “Wait, does that mean?”

George nodded before the demon could finish.

“We’re stuck in a Minecraft world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Wow. Thank you so much for the support so far! That is so exciting for me!
> 
> I know that I am posting this chapter on THE DAY AFTER I posted the first one, but please don't set that as a precedent or anything. Sometimes I get really excited when I post a new story so I write a whole bunch of chapters at once. You never know though. It may happen. It may not. Just know I have other stories I'm working on too so it might be a few days before the next chapter.
> 
> As I said before, please feel free to leave comments, questions, or suggestions and I will absolutely, one hundred percently, answer them for you. Thanks again for reading friends, and keep on smiling :)


	3. The Voice

The end was plain but formidable, to say the least.

Everything was either black or dull and greenish tan. There was nothing here, not even evidence of living forms. There were creatures here, terrifying black creatures with horrifyingly long limbs. They dotted the stone land, vanishing from one place to the next effortlessly. Around them, large black pillars of hard stone rose to the sky, housing bright crystals at the top of each.

Not that they were necessarily needed.

The landscape was fairly quiet, with the exception of the enderman screams that came a few and far between. There was also the low growl of the beautiful purple-eyed, black dragon; the beast remained snoring quietly behind its iron muzzle.

An obsidian structure rested in front of two of the large monoliths, giving full view to the area within and beyond. The platform itself stretched a fair width, warm and protected by the dragon’s head on one end and its strengthful tail curling around the other. In the off-set middle stood a black throne, where an entity rested with its eyes closed.

One might mistake it for being asleep. It doesn’t sleep - never has in its entire existence. It simply liked to close its eyes to focus. Occasionally, its head would tilt to a side or adjust how it sat, but rarely ever did it open its eyes. From here, it could see everything in the three different worlds - overworld, nether, and end of home. No tree nor villager could disappear against its eye.

This is its world at the end of the day.

Three blurs - blue, white, and black - flashed through its vision. It only lasted for a few brief seconds, but that was all that was needed.

The visionary opened its eyes.

Electric, amethyst purple shone against the black and pale, visible from every corner. A few of the enderman who stood closest vanished, frightened by the sudden change. A smile spread across its face.

“ _ They’re here,” _ it hissed, voice a whisper that still carried across space.

It had been waiting for this ever since the first of them had arrived.  _ The Hunters _ . Exactly as expected. All three, no more and no less. The game could go on, the one it had set up perfectly.

Two enderman appeared, standing tall before their leader. It didn’t address them directly, merely looking to the side where the dragon’s head rested, perfectly asleep. The sleeping beauty made a small chirping noise as a hand ran gracefully over hard scales. The controller smiled.

“ _ Send him in _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I know this is a short chapter and I'm so so sorry. But I promise it's important and will definitely be worth the read.
> 
> Aside from the hits and the kudos, I don't really know how you guys feel about the story so far. What do you all think? Anything that I need to change or adjust a bit? Feedback is greatly appreciated, so don't be afraid to write something! Even if it's just a hello ;)
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has read up to this point, and please keep on smiling this December week!


	4. The Gathering

“Are we really stuck in a Minecraft world?” Bad asked, fear clear on his blacked-out face. “How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know,” George answered, trying to remain as calm as possible, though his internal voice was freaking out.

Sapnap - on the other hand - was clearly not taking the news well.

“WHAT KIND OF JUMANJI LEVEL SHIT IS THIS?” He yelled.

“Dude! Stop yelling!” Bad responded, volume almost as loud.

“No! We are stuck in a video game! Why shouldn’t I?”

“Who knows if there are actual dangers THAT CAN HEAR YOU!”

“Both of you stop yelling,” George interrupted, stepping between the two with his hands raised. “We need to be as defensive as possible here.”

“Okay, but how is this possible?” Sapnap ran both hands through his hair. “How could we possibly be stuck in a Minecraft world right now? We still look human. Everything here looks how something in real life would normally be. How can we be in a Minecraft world if nothing is square?”

“No idea. There must be some different kinds of physics here or something.”

“OR SOMETHING?”

“Dude, calm down a tad bit, will you?” Bad put a hand on Sap’s arms, pulling his hand out of his hair before the stressed friend could tear out any more. “George, how should we test this out?”

“Mmm,” he looked around, seeing nothing but grass and trees.  _ Trees _ . The first thing you do when you enter a new seed. He stepped towards the closest oak tree, ignoring Bad’s pleas to Sapnap against pulling his hair out. Without even hesitating he punched the wood, watching as it splintered before his eyes.

“DUDE WHAT THE HELL?”

“George what are you doing!”

A smile broke across the investigator’s face, looking down at his perfectly fine fist. No pain, no injury. Just as he guessed.

“Are you just trying to be a muffin head and get yourself injured?” Bad grabbed his wrist before he could punch the tree again. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Look at the tree.” George pointed. “It’s breaking. My fist is perfectly fine! It’s just like before when I punched that wolf.” 

He turned, looking at both a furious Sapnap and a stunned Bad. “Things may look normal - just like they would in real life - but - in the end - this is still Minecraft. The video game rules still apply here. You can punch things without taking damage, and you can hit mobs and make them angry. There may be a few real-life and natural laws that apply here, but it’s still just a video game.”

Bad and Sapnap seemed to understand. The demon was more relaxed now, his mind turning with questions as well. And while Sap still looked frustrated, George could tell that his logic was sinking in.

“Sap I think you may have a point about this kind of being like Jumanji.”

The white shirted-friend angrily laughed. “You think?”

“I’m serious though. We’re stuck in a game that can be beaten, all of us have done it so many times and then some. So what if that means we have to beat Minecraft to get sent home?”

“Makes sense to me,” Bad replied.

“Yea, but there’s no telling what’s a human feature or a character skill.” Sap ran his hand through his hair again, making Bad instinctively reach out towards him. “How do we know what’s real and what’s not?”

“We might just have to test it along the way.”

“Wait,” Bad said, his eyes growing wide. “Do you think that Dream is stuck in this world too?”

George felt his stomach fall. Dream wasn’t in the apartment when they arrived, then they all disappeared a few minutes later. It made sense. It would explain where Dream went, but time seemed to work differently here. So there was no telling how long Dream had been here and how far he could’ve gone.

“It makes sense.”

“Shit,” Sap cursed again.

“Okay, but let’s think about this,” Bad explained. “It’s DREAM. He’s one hundred percent in his element here. In an unknown world with dangers chasing him. The only thing that’s different from literally every single video he has ever made is that he’s actually living in this world. If there’s anyone that can make it through this, it’s him. Right?”

“I guess so.”

“This is still a video game though,” Sap countered. “Dream has never been in an actual video game before. He’s just like us in this situation, confused and unprepared.”

“Then we’ll just have to find him along the way.”

“He could be anywhere though. Shoot, he might even already be at the Ender Dragon without us! We’ll be stuck here!”

“Okay, let’s not go there just yet,” George interrupted. His mind had been saying the same things but he didn’t want to sike himself out. “Why don’t we focus on preparing ourselves first? The day is getting shorter and we have nothing to protect ourselves. Let’s get the necessary materials first and then we can plan out what’s next.”

It actually surprised him when Sapnap nodded his head, looking at the ground. The friend turned around, beginning to walk the other way.

“Let’s plan to meet up before sundown,” Bad said. “I spawned next to a hill over there that we can use as shelter. We can meet up there.”

“Sounds good.”

George remained where he was, watching his friends go their separate ways. He understood why they each needed to be alone - Bad’s mind filled with unanswered questions and Sapnap just needing to let out some anger - his own subconscious begging to go explore on his own. It just made him uneasy now realizing that they were in a dangerous video game with no idea what would happen if one of them didn’t make it back.

Hell was this going to be hard.

  
  


\----

  
  


George took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the amazingly clean air. It bothered him to know that he could sweat in this world, not thinking that was possible due to the perfect temperature of this biome. He had been working for the better part of two hours, unsure if he was glad or disappointed at the fact that the day appeared to last longer than seven minutes. His makeshift pick-ax rested propped against a rock next to him, the wood already cracked and chipped.

He pulled his knees closer to his chest, hugging them for comfort more than security. The sky was dulling above, a faint tint of orange filling the horizon off to his right. His head turned at the sound of a rustling of bushes off to his left, standing up at the faint sight of a red and black hood.

Out of the woods at practically the same time emerged a bouncing demon and a jogging ninja. Both of them were clearly in a better mood, Bad smiling and Sap’s eyes shining with that tint of destruction he normally had even in real life. George smiled.

“You guys are in a better mood.”

“You kidding?” Sap said, a thrilling grin spreading across his face. “I got to kill some stuff. With my bare hands.”

Bad made a noise of shock while George simply rolled his eyes. He didn’t expect anything more Sapnap-ish to come out of his friend’s mouth.

“Okay, what do you guys have?”

“I found some sheep and a cow so I’ve got some meat and a bit of wool,” Sap said, carrying a bunch of white clouds in his hands. “Though I don’t think it’s enough to make beds for all of us.”

Bad pulled some sticks out of his back pocket, holding them out in front of him. “I’ve got a bunch of wood for us to make tools. And…” He reached into his other back pocket, pulling out three red flowers. “I found these cool flowers for all of us.”

“Aww,” George said while Sapnap muttered an inaudible complaint under his breath.

“What about you, George?”

“I got a little bit of wood as well and found some apples we can eat if necessary.” He held two apples out to his friends.

“Neat.”

“Alright,” Sap continued, fairly impressed as compared to before.

“And I had a little extra time so I went ahead and started digging out a place for us to stay tonight.” The blue friend stepped to the side, revealing a small hole in the hill behind him.

“Seriously?”

George nodded his head, just as the light around them changed. The three players glanced to the horizon, watching the sun’s glow sprout from behind a mountain peak in the distance.

“Guess we should head in.”

“Yea. I don’t necessarily want to encounter any mobs before I have at least a sword to defend myself with,” Bad commented.

Each player crouched as they entered through the small doorway, George entering last to shut them in. Despite the absence of light, the trio could still see each other, which was comforting in a way. George knew that it wasn’t technically safe being in the dark in a Minecraft world, but that didn’t seem like such an important priority at the moment.

They got to work, Bad and George building something that resembled a crafting table while Sapnap fidgeted with the wool in his hands. The table ended up being more of a bench than the block machine they were used to, but it was enough to make things work. And while he didn’t have enough wool to make full-on beds, Sap weaved the strands together to form make-shift pillows for them. In the end, none of them cared whether or not they slept on the ground.

“So what’s the plan?” Bad asked as they sat together on the floor.

“We gather more materials and start making our way I guess,” George answered.

“You know tomorrow is the day after spawn right? There will be mobs hiding everywhere.”

“We’ll just have to do with what we got.”

His friends grumbled and nodded in agreement. They didn’t say much as they laid down to sleep - well, next to Bad telling them goodnight and sweet dreams - each of them equally exhausted.

George settled down as best as he could, unable to sleep no matter how comfortable his tossing and turning got him. His mind was on overload, way too active to sleep. There was too much to do, too much to worry about. The inside of his skull was filled with questions and then some, strategies and ways to get them out of here. He was too overwhelmed with his own thoughts.

And the sound of Dream’s cries still echoing in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! So I accidentally deleted this chapter because I'm stupid apparently. Nothing changed. It is literally the exact same chapter.
> 
> Here's the usual. Let me know what you think. Leave comments, questions, or suggestions and I'll read them.
> 
> Sorry friends. Thanks for sticking with my idioticy. Keeps smiling!


	5. The Run

_ Oh no, George dreaded. No, no, no, no. Please not this again. _

_ He knew he was awake - he could feel it - but once again everything was black around him. He was back at the same place as before - wherever that was. _

_ “Dream?” He spoke, voice not a whisper but simply at a low volume. _

_ There was no answer. _

_ George couldn’t keep his mind from running in circles. Could Dream even hear him? Did he know he was there? Was George actually present in this space or was he simply just an observer? _

_ He tried to take a step forward, but his foot felt like it was barely touching air. It sent shivers down his spine. Nope, better to stay where he was and try to find Dream from there. _

_ A movement off to his left caught his attention, but his head turned back at a flash of light. Was it… purple? The first one had been a solid mass moving in the space, but the second one- was that just pure color? _

_ There was another bit of purple that streaked right in front of his face. It was a beautiful color, George in awe as the flashes grew more frequent and more vivid. _

_ “No…” he heard a groan, his heart dropping to the floor. “No. Please, no. No…” _

_ “Dream,” George called out. “Hey. It’s me. You’re alright.” _

_ “No. No please! Please no! NO. I won’t… PLEASE. NO. I CAN’T- I CAN’T DO IT! NO!…” _

_ Fear ran over George as his friend started screaming again, the purple flashes becoming more violent. “DREAM! DREAM WHERE ARE YOU? I’M HERE!” He couldn’t stand still anymore, beginning to run through the dark space. He turned in circles, sprinting around the finite yet borderless space. It was like he wasn’t even there, just present to the horrific torture his friend was enduring. _

_ “Dream! I’m here! I got you! Hold o…” _

_ A face appeared in front of him, cutting off his cries. Purple eyes glowed at him, illuminating parts of the creature's black face. Its mouth was wide open - grey teeth shimmering in the dark - a horrifying noise escaping its lips. George jerked backward out of fear, falling on his back. The demon lunged at him, his friend screaming once more... _

George woke in a cold sweat, shivering on the cold dirt floor. Bad and Sapnap were still asleep next to him, which surprised him as to how hard he was breathing. Their shelter was still dark, meaning they were still safe. He had no idea how long he had been asleep, but he knew it couldn’t have been long.

Crossing his legs and sitting up straight, George held his head in his hands. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest.

So he didn’t just imagine it the first time. The nightmares; they were actually happening. He was dreaming about his friend, but why? Originally he thought it was just the aftermath of the event back at the apartment, but no. It wouldn’t still be going on.

Was his friend really dying?

No. No, he wasn’t just going to sit here and wonder about something that isn’t - couldn’t - be true. There was no denying what he was witnessing; not everyone dreams about their best friend being tortured and dying. Shit, he didn’t even know if it was anything more than a nightmare. The others could be having them too and not telling them. Maybe Bad had woken up from one before him and he just didn’t know. Sapnap could be having one right now, who knows. The fact of the matter is there’s no way that is real.

Right?

_ Right? _

George stood up, carefully stepping over the slumbering demon to the crafting bench. He set to work mending his pick-ax as best as possible. As much as he wanted to see what this world was like at night, he didn’t want to risk digging an opening in the wall if there were still mobs outside.

He still needed to distract his mind for a few hours.

As carefully and quietly as he could - not wanting to find out what would happen if he woke up Sapnap - he began digging down in the furthest corner. With some of the excess wood, he built a small ladder, in awe at the sight of it just hanging on the wall without any needed force from him. He set off on his mission: to mine as much as possible. He began a form of strip mining, picking a specific direction and going as far as he wanted. When that level exhausted him, he would dig a small spiral staircase a few meters down and start again.

George worked for at least an hour or two, his friends not even stirring the different times he came up the ladder to the crafting table with enough stone to make them all tools. He was ecstatic when he figured out how to make a stone pick, and at one point he had to keep from shouting out when he came across coal for the first time. He set his mining aside to make a furnace - which was easy to his surprise - in the event that he found any iron or gold. He even made himself a few torches before running out of excess wood, being careful to only light them once below the main surface.

It wasn’t until he had started a new tunnel on his fifth level when he heard signs of life above him.

“GEOOOOOOORRRGE!”

A stone pick-ax and torches crashed to the floor as George began sprinting up the stairs towards the obvious sounds of panic.

“Where’d he go?” Sap’s voice rang.

“I don’t know!”

“Guys?” George popped his head through the hole in the floor. Bad jumped in fright as Sapnap let out a curse.

“WHAT THE HELL?”

“What’s wrong with you, you muffin head!”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“You disappeared WITHOUT TELLING US!”

“We were getting ready to head outside to find you!” Sap shouted.

“I didn’t want to wake you guys!” George fully climbed into the room, brushing the dirt off his knees.

“You muffin, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you for this.” Bad bent over, putting his hands on his knees the way a runner after a marathon would. 

“What were you even doing?”

“Mining.”

Bad’s head shot up. “You… what?”

“I’ve been mining. Here.” George hopped down the ladder, re-emerging with two complete sets of stone tools.

“Have you been mining this whole time?” Bad asked, his eyes wide.

“Yea. I was quiet enough that you couldn’t hear me over Sap’s snoring.”

“Really? That again?”

“Dude even in this world you snore loud enough to cover a hurricane.”

Sap nap glared at him.

Bad held the stone sword in his hand like a delicate prize. “You did all of this?”

“I woke up early.”

“Seems like you’ve been up longer than ‘early’,” Sap commented, peering down the ladder.

“Yea. I was um…” George rubbed the back of his neck. “I was too restless to get any sleep.”

There was a voice at the back of his mind begging him to tell the two about his dreams. Who knows? Maybe they could help him figure out what they mean. Or maybe sharing the information could help them get closer to Dream. Yet he only swallowed, pushing his thoughts away. They had other things - more important things - to worry about them, and sharing right now might put on another burden.

“Anyways, I made as much as I could with the supplies we have, but we will have to stop and get more trees though. I also figured out the inventory thing. There seems to be a little invisible pocket that follows us around that holds all of our things. Now, believe me, I know how it sounds, but just try this.” 

George turned his left arm in a circle, a faint blue glowing panel appearing in front of him. He could hear the other two gasp and murmur under their breath. He proceeded to point at some of the items in small boxes, a few even appearing in his hand.

“We still have limited inventory space and can only hold two things at a time, but it’s better than having to manually carry everything around.”

“Damn, that efficient,” Sapnap answered, inspecting George’s wrist while Bad attempted to open his own. His white eyes lit up when the small red light appeared before him.

“I figured it would be best to learn as much as I could before we head out.”

All three paused, turning to look towards the dirt entrance they had created last night, the mood in the room once again falling to anxiety and worry.

“I  _ really _ don’t want to know what all is out there,” Bad spoke first, breaking the silence.

“Well we can’t just stay here, we have to leave at some point.”

“There’s no telling what’s actually out there.” Sap turned back to look at George. “Do we really have to?”

George opened his mouth to express his own logging for staying in this hole they built - safe and secure - but was cut off by the sounds of Dream’s screaming in his head. They had to leave. Dream was out there. They didn’t have a choice.

“Yes.” He turned, looking Sapnap straight in the eyes. “Dream needs us.”

The room went silent once more, the three boys looking back and forth between each other. With unspoken words, they all began to pick up the room. Sap began to pick up the wool clumps each of them had, taking a minute to teach himself how to open his inventory. Bad volunteered to take the crafting table while George claimed the portable furnace he had made out of spare stone. He also gave each of them a half stack of stone, enough to tower or block themselves in if necessary. They split the cooked mutton, each of them eating one for breakfast to get their energy up.

All three of them stood in front of the dirt door, none of them really sure they wanted to go through. It was finally George driving his shovel into the brown earth barrier and Sapnap letting out a  _ ‘who cares!’ _ curse before running shoulder first into it that brought the light into the room. All three jumped through the hole, backs to each other and holding up their own weapons in defense.

Nothing.

It was calm and quiet, just like yesterday.

Only this time it made them shiver. 

Each of them lowered their weapons, nerves still on high. Without any spoken words, all three started in the direction away from the hill, maneuvering themselves through the trees and long grass. It wasn’t that hard to get the wood they needed for more tools. They were in a forest of all things. And George was sure all of them held the same appreciation for not being dropped in a desert or on an island.

Today was just like yesterday, walking through a peaceful forest too perfect to believe. There were the occasional cows or chickens that would frighten them before Sapnap in particular jumped them for food.

“Does this forest ever  _ end _ ?” Sap asked, the leaves shading them from the sun directly above them.

George gave him a curious look. “I thought you were the one who’s always exploring.”

“One - in real-life forests. Two - not when I’m stuck in a video game, tired of being in a video game, and wanting nothing more to get out of a video game.” He pushed a branch out of his way. “Let’s just beat the game so we can get out of here.”

“I know I probably already know the answer to this, but are you okay, Sapnap?”

“Pff. What do you think? No. I’ve never been so scared in my life. I want to go home. I want all of us to go home…”

Bad, who had been walking ahead of them froze, holding out his arms to stop them. Despite not having irises, George could tell his plain white eyes were darting around frantically.

“What is it?”

“Shh,” Bad whispered.

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

All three stopped, listening to the forest around them. There certainly was something, and not just an animal crunching across the grassy floor. It was making a small ticking sound, always after the point when it took a step.

None of them knew what to do. On one hand, they didn’t want to stick around and discover what could possibly be making that noise, but on the other,  _ what creature could possibly make that noise _ ? Was it something from Minecraft? Something from their world? Something demonic creature from another reality entirely?

“Okay.” George whispered. “How about we all slowly start backing up and go another way aro…”

A horrifying creature stepped out from behind a tree almost right in front of them. It’s four green legs moved with their own minds, sprinting at them. It was taller than any of them, the black eyes and mouth having the appearance of liquid dripping down its face. And the sound of it hissing rang echoed off the trees around them.

It was a creeper, but more like a figure from their nightmares.

“OH MY HELL,” Sapnap shouted.

“What do we do?” George could hear his heart pumping with adrenaline in his ears.

“WHAT KIND OF DEMONIC PERSON MADE THAT?”

“Just run, you muffins!”

“We need to do something!”

“SHIT!”

“Ay! Language!”

“REALLY BAD? RIGHT NOW?”

“Shut up and just run!”

Sapnap was the first one to go, not waiting to be told again. They didn’t look back, listening to the advice they had learned from every horror movie they had watched together. Bad had slightly better hearing and could tell when they lost it, George and Sapnap using him as their guide.

A dirt hill came into their vision, and all three would have shouted in relief if they had any breath to spare. There was a small cove in its side, perfect for hiding from demonic creepers, and each of them almost dove into it. They finally came to a stop, bending over to catch their breaths.

“I think we lost it,” Bad said, peering over his shoulder.

Sapnap sat down with his back against the cold dirt, mumbling to himself as he buried his head in his hands.

“Do you think we’ll be safe in here?” George asked.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. I think if we stay for too long, then no but for right now we’ll be alright.”

George didn’t answer, nodding his head. He stood up straighter, placing his hands on top of his head to expand his lungs.

“I’m going to get a higher look to see if it followed us.” Bad dropped everything next to George, freeing his hands to scale the dirt behind them. George closed his eyes, face soaking in the warm sun above them. He wasn’t a runner like Dream or Sapnap, and he was honestly kind of regretting not trying harder in gym class.

A small whimper grabbed his attention, gaze staring down to look at the quivering ball that was his friend Sapnap. His panic returned, this time in the form of concern when he saw his friend rocking back and forth.

“Sap. Sapnap. Look at me.” He kneeled down, putting a hand on his shaking shoulder.

Sapnap grabbed at the hair on his head. “Oh my god we’re going to die. We’re so going to die in here.”

“Breathe Sapnap. We’ll be alright.”

“REALLY?” An angry face looked up at him. “WE’RE GOING TO BE ALRIGHT? IN A WORLD FULL OF THOSE THINGS?”

“Sapnap. Your face is turning red. I need you to work with me hear, okay? In-hold-out. In-hold-out.”

For once, the boy actually listened to him, moving his hands to be covering his head to get more air. George had never seen Sapnap so freaked out before, and it was honestly scaring him. Here is the boy who could go head to head in a fight against Dream without batting an eye, the one who almost jumped a gang member one time for giving Bad crap for his glasses. The blue shirt friend wrapped his arm around his friend’s shoulders and pulled him close. He knew that was the only thing he could do for him at the moment. They stayed like that for a long time, George not wanting to look up at the sky to predict how much time they had spent hiding.

“Guys,” a calming voice called. The two looked up, seeing Bad’s face pop over the dirt above them. A smile was spread across his face. “This is something you’re going to want to see.”

With that he disappeared once more behind the hill, leaving George to help Sapnap to his feet and quickly collect their things. Their legs ached as they scaled the hill and were relieved to see that it was short. They moved over to where their friend stood, back to them, gazing over the scene in front of them.

It was an open grass biome, trees spread few and far between. They could easily see a few different animals grazing on grass, not so much as a skeleton between them and the stone mountain lining the horizon across. Most importantly, only a short way away, multiple different pillars of smoke billowed into the sky… 

Where a village filled with awakened life laid welcoming for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE! GUESS WHO'S BACK!
> 
> Oh my goodness I'm so happy that I'm returning to this story. My goodness writer's block is a muffin.
> 
> What do you all think? Do you like where this story is going? Got any suggestions for future chapters or need me to clarify anything? Please let me know! I'll happily answer!
> 
> ALSO, GUESS WHO HAS A TWITTER! :D I use it to post updates on my stories and other random things. Here it is if you're interested: @Cloudyerd11
> 
> Thank you so much for sticking around friends! Keep smiling and see you soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I'm so happy to be sharing this story with you. This is my first time posting to this fandom so feedback is greatly welcomed! Feel free to leave comments, questions, or suggestions and I will happily answer them! Thank you so much for reading and keep on smiling my friends :)


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